Test Run

“We paid good hard-earned money to get off this god forsaken rock and here we are, standing in the tele-tunnel, waiting. So much for testing. They said there just wasn’t enough power on the planet to facilitate a test run. We’re the test run. They’ve got thousands of us crammed down here. Three hundred and thirty six miles of six-by-nine-by-ten tunnels carved into the side of the Rockies… Each and every person paid a fortune to be the test run, to be in here; just the moist concrete, dim lights, cold steel and us. I guess it’s better than what’s out there. They said either way, if it works or if it doesn’t, we wouldn’t feel a thing–”

CHHHHRRRRR….

The walls shake and the lights flicker. Everyone cowers and looks upward as if they would find something other than concrete and steel.

KARTHUNNNK!!!!

“–It’s powering on.”

At the far end of the hallway, a man is grabbed by the ceiling. Instantly, he vanishes as he’s pressed thinly across the sheet metal.

“They said no metal; implant, plate, pins, jewelry or otherwise. He must’ve been hiding something. The first to turn on is the magnets. That’s what they told us. Then the crystal vibrates.”

VREEEEEEEEEE…

Everyone drops to the floor. They hold their hands tight over their ears. Those with children suffer through the high-pitched shrill, clambering to protect their offspring. After ninety, long seconds it stops.